STM Parents and Families,
I wanted to reach out to you all before Thanksgiving Break to first say thank you for your kindness, generosity, and support of the STM faculty and staff. Your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated and your unwavering dedication to the school is inspiring! Thank you for all you do for us and your children!
I also wanted to make sure that I communicated to you our plans for school going forward. Beginning today, Arapahoe County has moved to "Level Red: Severe Risk", which heightens restrictions as a county. As this relates to us, and as you read the other day in my communication to you, STM Catholic does not intend to move to distance learning for the entire school any time soon. We will remain in person for as long as possible and as long as the health of our community remains. At this point, STM has only 3 confirmed cases of COVID out of approximately 440 faculty, staff, and students. That equates to less than 0.7% of our STM population that has been infected. This is an amazingly low number that fully supports our decision to stay in school.
There are a couple of factors that would determine a complete school shut down for us. These would include (but not limited to) a school-wide outbreak (2 or more cases in 2 or more cohorts) or having a shortage of faculty to safely operate the school on a daily basis...similar to what we experienced in October when we had to fully move to distance learning.
So, what can we do to avoid a full shutdown from happening? We can all be smart!! First, PLEASE do not send your child to school if they show even the slightest symptoms. You have all done a wonderful job of this; thank you!! However, just for your knowledge, if a student is at school for even 15 minutes and found to be positive, that would send their cohort home for 2 weeks. So, if they come to school with any symptoms, we will be calling you to pick them up. Secondly, if you are traveling over break, PLEASE adhere to the precautions set forth (i.e.: masking, social distancing, etc.) and also understand STM's travel protocol for return to school. I have included it below for your reference.
At the end of the day, it is our goal to keep our students in school. This is not only for their faith and academic formation, but also (and I would argue more importantly) for their mental well-being. Children NEED to be around other children! God created us to be social beings for a reason; we need to share in each other's love, joy, and peace!
I have attached a letter from the Archdiocese, specifically the Office of Catholic Schools. Please take a moment to read the letter as I believe it is very well written and articulates our stance on remaining in school.
I wish you all a joy-filled and restful Thanksgiving Break.
Much peace and many blessings,
Mrs. DeWolfe
Principal
CALENDAR UPDATE
AS you all know, December 18 is scheduled to be a 10:30am dismissal and our last day of school before Christmas Break. On this day, we typically attend Mass at 9:00am and really celebrate and reflect on the joy of Christmas. Unfortunately, this year, we will not be attending the 9:00am Mass on this day. Because of this, Monsignor and I have decided to have our Christmas Break begin early. So, we will NOT be having school on Friday, December 18. Instead, I would ask that you take some time to reflect and pray. Lion's Den WILL be open for students to be dropped off.
Travel Protocol Reminders
Traveling out of state by car:
* Please let the front office and teachers know of where you are going and dates you will be gone.
* While there is not a quarantine requirement upon return, we ask that you be vigilant in wearing masks, keeping an appropriate distance, etc. as you see fit and as is mandated by the state you are traveling to.
* At all times, monitor ANY symptoms ALL family members may be showing.
* If all persons you are traveling with are healthy and symptom-free the ENTIRE TIME and when you return, then students may return to school upon return to Colorado.
Traveling out of state by air:
* Please let the front office and teachers know of where you are going and the date you will be gone.
* Upon return to Colorado, and after you have left airport grounds, you must quarantine and monitor symptoms for 72 hours at home. If everyone who has traveled with you is symptom-free after 72 hours, you may return to school.
Carlines when you return
As a reminder - when you return from Thanksgiving Break, we will be returning to TWO-afternoon carlines - one on the church side and one on the school side. Please revert to the carline you were in before middle school went to distance learning.
Additionally, please remember to be turning right out of the school parking lot and left out of the church parking lot. THANK YOU!!